


That Mess You Were Hoping to Forget

by rose_griffes



Category: Battlestar Galactica (2003), Pushing Daisies, The Muppets - All Media Types, The Pretender
Genre: F/M, Gen, M/M, Multi, crackfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-11
Updated: 2015-08-11
Packaged: 2018-04-14 05:58:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 4,921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4553337
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rose_griffes/pseuds/rose_griffes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I wrote a lot of silly short fics for <i>Battlestar Galactica</i>. This is my attempt to collect some of them in one place. The only connecting theme is general silliness, and a lot of mocking of cylons in general (and Leoben in particular).  There's nothing explicit in terms of sexual content or violence, but I'll post something at the beginning of each one to outline the content.  It's still BSG fic, after all...</p><p>The crossover ficlets (Muppets, Pushing Daisies, The Pretender) are in chapter seven.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Cylons Learn What Not to Wear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pretty much what the chapter title says... this is set after the cylons and humans have teamed up in season four.

An Eight--she called herself Andrea--stood naked in the center of the room. She was completely still, arms raised above her head in a graceful pose... while a centurion took her measurements. "This time I want a pleated skirt, something with a lot of fullness." Andrea twirled to demonstrate that she wanted something that could swish, then looked at the centurion. It shook its head once. "Okay, fine," she snapped. "Make it a tulip skirt."

As the centurion left a platinum-haired Six entered. She had an angry frown on her face but waited to speak until the centurion was out of sight. "Do you know what one of those things did?" she said with a fierce whisper, pointing down the hallway in the direction the centurion had gone. "Look!" She held out a box.

Andrea took it and read aloud: "Lady May's hair color for women. Dark honey blonde."

"Can you believe it?!" The Six was incensed. "I didn't ask for an opinion! Besides, what do they know?"

With a rather unsympathetic smile Andrea replied, "It could've been worse. Three of the scissor-hand centurions brought me an eight-page printout of what clothing styles are most flattering to my figure."

* * *

Natalie pressed her lips together, counted to ten in her head and tried again. "Yes, the black pumps you brought me do match the belt. But sometimes you don't want to be too matchy-matchy. These silver heels," she held them up for emphasis, "don't clash but make a nice contrast with the darker color." 

The centurion looked at the metallic sandals, then held up the black heels again with an insistent manner. Natalie wasn't sure but she thought maybe its red eye-sensor was moving faster than before... like it was agitated. So she took the black shoes.

* * *

Leoben turned to his fellow Two. "Would you look at this," he spluttered. "These pants have been pressed! And I can't find any of our floral print shirts!"

His duplicate nodded sadly. "They can think now but they still don't see the patterns that we see." He pointed to his own plain tee and neat flat-front trousers with a wistful shrug.


	2. The Cylons Learn What Not to Wear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gaius has an interesting conversation with Leoben while stuck on the cylon basestar. Includes a reference to the Gaius/D'Anna/Caprica Six relationship.

Tapping his foot on the floor again--stop. He was more jittery than he liked to admit; it was exhausting, trying to please two females with such stamina. Two willing females seemed ideal, but he just wasn't cut out for this. He worried what would happen if D'Anna wasn't satisfied; tried to block the thought when his foot started tapping again. Maybe he should walk around instead of sitting. He stood up and started toward the doorway.

That's when a Leoben walked into the room. He smiled at Gaius, which made him feel even more nervous. Right now he'd rather be ignored.

"You scored with D'Anna," he said with another worrisome grin. Gaius twitched. Word had already gotten around, then. Or maybe the knowledge could be downloaded? Maybe all those details, too? "She slapped me around a few times when I was stream-talking, but it never led to anything else."

What was he supposed to say to that?

"But that's okay. I'm really not that into other cylons, you know? Humans are so passionate and intense. It's like riding down a waterfall..."

Was Leoben hitting on him? Because he had standards. Not that he couldn't swing that way, but the male cylons weren't that appealing. Leoben wasn't too bad--definitely a bit weather-worn; and Simon was okay, but it was definitely Man who had designed the cylons; a woman would never have made such disparate gender designs.

Oh wait, Leoben was talking about Captain Thrace now. Never mind.

"... and settle down in a house with a creek nearby so we could go swimming..."

The cylon didn't seem to stop for breath. Gaius looked longingly at the doorway. Maybe if he ran out? But the cylons had that freakish speed and strength.

"... and her destiny will be fulfilled when we reach Earth together and bring forth the next generation..."

Gods, what had he done to deserve this? No answer. He tried again: One True (Cylon) God, help me! Still no response.

"... so what do you think it means if a human woman tells you that she loves you and kisses you, but after that she stabs you in the gut with a knife?"

"Um..." Gaius stammered. "Maybe she has mixed feelings?" He started edging toward the exit but then two cylon centurions clanked into the doorway, red eyes turned toward him. Leoben kept talking. Oh Lords of Kobol, God, whatever--Cylon endurance was going to be the death of him.


	3. Like a Bad Fairytale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spec-fic written when Tory and Leoben exchange a **look**. Includes pregnancy and a reference to the Colonial law outlawing abortion.

Once upon a time a lovely Final Five cylon with big brown eyes and a deceptively sweet smile stepped aboard a cylon basestar for the first time. She met a ruggedly handsome known-seven cylon. They eye-frakked; when she swooned he caught her in his strong arms. Then they frakked a lot, passionately and with much enthusiasm, and lived happily ever after...

...which lasted about seventy-two hours. Long enough to:

1) have a standoff with the humans in the Colonial Fleet  
2) make an alliance with them  
3) find Earth  
4) retreat from its irradiated surface  
and 5) for Leoben to use just one more stream analogy about destiny when Tory had warned him not to.

It ended with Leoben in a basestar launching tube and Tory about to give the ~~order~~ request to the centurion to send him into space.

The other remaining Two saved his duplicate from a quick airless death at the last moment.

The End.

Except that it wasn't. Two weeks later Tory was losing her algae breakfast on a regular basis. Four weeks later, during a visit to Galactica, Hera Agathon patted Tory's stomach and smiled. Four weeks and one pregnancy test later Leoben was back in the airlock. This time D'Anna intervened and made it quite clear to Tory that just because she was a Final Five cylon did not mean that she was allowed to airlock her brothers and sisters.

Nor was she allowed to get rid of the unwanted-by-her miracle baby--the cylons had agreed to abide by Colonial Fleet law a couple of weeks earlier, when it became obvious that they were going to have to stay together if they wanted to survive. D'Anna also made sure that Tory wasn't left alone; wherever she went a mostly-silent posse of Sixes and Eights followed (which had the added benefit of keeping them from trying to seduce Sam Anders and Galen Tyrol in hopes of conceiving their own miracle babies).

Tory finally resigned herself to being the mother of a special child and started plotting ways for this to work for her benefit--when she wasn't kneeling in front of a toilet.

Leoben was ecstatic but kept a safe distance from the mother of his unborn child. He observed her gradual changes--from quick steps to slow waddle, from tiny waist to stomach jutting in front. He did his best to find special treats for her and had the Sixes and Eights deliver them. Sometimes they were flung back at him, but other times not. As she approached the end of the second trimester (and her reaction time was slowed by the unaccustomed bulk she was carrying), he came close enough to talk to her with one purpose in mind--to feel the baby's movement.

He was like water dripping on a stone--persistent and slowly eroding her resistance over time. Finally she agreed to let him touch her stomach, but only if he promised not to say a single word. 

When the baby was active Tory had Leoben come in to her sleeping quarters and sit on the edge of her bed. She guided his hand to the spot where she could feel the tiny flutters. As his hand moved across her stomach he looked awed and reverent. Eyes glistening, he glanced at her, took her hand and kissed it. 

Tory smiled that deceptive smile of hers and said, "If you ever get that look on your face again I may have to vomit on you. Now get out." As he left she muttered, "Ends at the first trimester, my ass."

The End. Really.


	4. She gets that spiritual clarity from her mother.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What if Leoben had become obsessed with Gaius Baltar instead of Kara Thrace? A rewrite of those scenes on New Caprica, now with Gaius in that apartment. Plus the cute kid and mind games.

Gaius was sitting still on the couch. At least, he was trying to sit still. His nerves were getting to him and he hadn't had a cigarette in days because Leoben was concerned about his health.

"It's been a couple of ugly days," the cylon said.

Yes, definitely, Gaius thought. The centurions hadn't gotten the scorch marks out of the carpet, though the blood stains were all gone. It had been a horrible, startling accident, and he certainly hadn't intended to kill the cylon. Admittedly, it had been a relief at the time.

He'd sort of forgotten that bit about downloading, though. And now Gaius wasn't allowed to in the kitchen again, either.

Leoben continued. "I know you don't care about that, but life means something to us. So I've decided to show you just how precious life can be. How even in the worst of times, it can restore your faith."

He paused, then asked, "Remember the Tywalt building in Caprica City?"

"I remember watching it explode on the vidscreen when you nuked it." Damn, he sounded snitty rather than genuinely horrified. Sometimes the feigned accent worked against him.

"It wasn't a total loss. We were able to salvage certain things. Certain medical samples."

"Medical... samples?"

"Your sperm donation. 'Scientist, genius IQ, good health, exceptionally attractive,' " the cylon quoted. 

Gods, he'd forgotten about that.

"I'd agree with all of those descriptions," Leoben said tenderly, smiling as he looked fondly at him.

"That--that donation was to help people! People with fertility problems! Not to be used in... wait, what did you use it for?"

The Six who lived in his mind popped into view. "Oh, it's such a lovely surprise, Gaius!" she cooed. She smirked at him and sat on the couch armrest, crossing her legs in front of him. 

Leoben walked up the stairs, not answering his question. He reappeared a few moments later, a dark-haired child in his arms. Not an infant... they had some term for kids that age.

It appeared to be a girl. That was the extent to which his brain processed this new development.

"What? What? I--what?"

"Stammering is so unbecoming for a man of your intellect, Gaius," murmured Six. She entwined her fingers in his hair, then gave a sharp tug, forcing him to look in the direction of Leoben and the girl.

"This is Phoebe. Phoebe, this is Gaius, your father." Leoben held her up to see Gaius clearly.

"Hi," said the little girl with exuberance.

"Good girl," Leoben told her.

# # #

Leoben and Phoebe were playing with blocks on the floor. Somewhere in his mind Gaius registered the cuteness of the scene, but the majority of his brain refused to acknowledge what was happening.

Turning to him, Leoben said, "We performed in-vitro fertilization on a Six, who carried Phoebe close to full-term."

"Was it... Caprica?" Leoben had mentioned a Six called Caprica who had believed it to be her destiny to be with him. Gaius had realized that this was his Six during the conversation, the woman whose name he'd never known. The woman on the planet Caprica who had stolen information, helped start a genocide and then saved his life from that same attack.

Rather disappointing that she'd changed her mind about the whole him and her destiny thing, actually.

"Would it matter?" Leoben and the Six and his head asked simultaneously.

"No, no of course not. I was just wondering."

"I guess she gets her will to survive from you. I've seen her path. It's difficult, but rewarding. She'll know the mind of God in this lifetime. She'll see patterns that others do not see. She probably got such spiritual clarity from her mother."

# # #

Gaius had scooted to the end of the couch, as far away from the kid as possible. Phoebe was still playing with blocks for the moment, though Leoben had stood up.

"I need to leave for a bit," he told him. "She'll be hungry soon. There's food on the table, so you don't have to cook anything, darling."

The Six in Gaius's mind echoed it, cooing "Darling," in his ear. Gaius twitched at the term of endearment and didn't say anything. Apparently Leoben was going to leave him alone? With her? (Them?)

"You wouldn't let your own child starve, would you?" asked Leoben.

"My child. She can't be my child," Gaius mumbled. At that moment Phoebe looked up from her blocks, stared at him on the couch, then burst into tears. 

"My child," Gaius repeated numbly. He heard the door close. Phoebe continued to cry, and the Six in his mind stood and smiled at them both, like a shark circling its prey in the water.

"Frak," said Gaius. 

The girl stopped wailing for a moment and frowned at him. "Bad," she said distinctly.

Oh, this was just fantastic. Moral judgments from his daughter already, after knowing he was a father for less than an hour. Parenthood was going just as he might have guessed.


	5. Sorority

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remember when Sharon Agathon visited Caprica Six when she was being held aboard Galactica? Remember how Six had perfect makeup and her usual chilly-looking attire? This ficlet is the result of that.

"So." Caprica said the word carefully. "I'm glad you came."

"Right. Sorry I couldn't get back for a visit sooner." Athena looked upbeat in spite of her apologies. "But I did bring you something to make up for it!" She pulled something small out of her pocket and handed it to her.

Caprica looked surprised. "It's... a tube of lip gloss. How lovely."

"I just knew you'd like it!" said Athena.

"Um, did you have any chance to see about maybe bringing me a bra? Or a sweater?" Caprica hoped she didn't sound too demanding.

"Oh, right. No, I didn't remember to ask about them. I'll try and do that before I come for a visit next time."

Considering it had been a month since the last visit, Caprica wasn't going to hold her breath. Athena chatted about Hera, which was, in fact, cheering, then talked about how wonderful Helo was as a new father. That wasn't quite so interesting, considering that the wonderfulness of Helo was also a topic in their previous chat. Caprica listened attentively despite that. This was her sister, after all.

Finally Athena finished up her monologue and asked, "But what about you? Anything I should know?"

"Not much. Just, you know, a bit chilly in here."

"Right! I'll be sure and remember to look for those clothes before next time!" Athena was apparently in a rush to leave now; she gave Caprica a cursory farewell and left.

Caprica sat on her cot and rolled the tube of makeup between her fingers. She took out the compact Athena had brought her last time, looked in the mirror and put on a layer of gloss. At least the color looked good on her.


	6. Accidental Sacrilege

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Someone gave me a prompt for a Leoben Christmas fic, and this is the result. Oops.

Anne's hands were cold, shoved in the bottom of her coat pockets. She was glad to be here, knew that what she was doing was important, but why did it have to be so cold?! Then there was her partner in this activity--Sister Susan. She was grinning at Anne, an overtly happy smile that radiated good cheer. Anne didn't know what it was about Sister Susan that made her grit her teeth, but so it was. She refrained from rolling her eyes and tried a small smile in return. Apparently that was a signal--Sister Susan said, "Oh Sister Anne, I just know this next door will have someone ready to listen to us!" Great. Sister Susan was Exercising Faith again. The capital letters were part of the way she talked--Exercising Faith, Practicing Charity, Producing Good Works.

"That would be nice." Anne would love to share their message, but more immediate was the thought that maybe they could get into someone's apartment long enough for her hands to thaw out. Her turn--reluctantly she pulled her hand out of her pocket and knocked on the door.

A man answered a few moments later--not young, blond, a big smile. "Hello!" He seemed pleased to see them. Already this was a change of pace for their evening.

"Hi. I'm Sister Anne and this is Sister Susan." His blue eyes widened at the introduction. "We're here with an important message."

"A message? Is it about Kara?"

Anne looked over at Sister Susan, who appeared to Exercising Faith enough that she didn't pay any attention to Anne. "Um, no? I don't know any Kara. This is a message about God."

"Oh!" He smiled again. "I believe in God. There's one true God." Instead of declaring himself to be satisfied in his beliefs and closing the door in their faces, he looked at them expectantly.

It took her a moment to collect her thoughts and start talking again--apparently he wanted to listen. "That's right. There is one true God. And we have a message about how much He loves us, a Christmas message."

"Christmas! I've been wondering what that is!"

Anne felt a twinge of concern. This guy was just strange. She glanced at Sister Susan again. Maybe it would be best to send some of the brethren, rather than go in themselves. Unfortunately Sister Susan didn't seem to have the same qualms. "We'd love to talk with you about him. May we come in?"

*****

He listened politely, occasionally agreeing with Sister Susan's statements. Anne didn't know what to make of him. Clearly he spoke English well but he seemed culturally...well, ignorant wasn't a strong enough word. Even non-Christians who grew up in the West knew more than him. It was like he'd been dropped off here from somewhere else. When she read from the book of Luke he looked bewildered at the idea of God being born into a body. Then something seemed to click when she talked about Christ's death and resurrection.

"So he died and came back to life again?"

"Yes. Because He loves us."

"My people know about that." He smiled, a slow, almost flirtatious smirk. "I've died a few times for love."

Sister Susan had a glazed look in her eyes. Apparently this statement was enough to get past her Exercising Faith attitude.


	7. The Crossover Edition

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I wanted a set of five stories where Leoben annoys people in various other shows, but only ended up with three. So we have Kermit and Miss Piggy (in place of Sam Anders and Kara Thrace), Olive Snook from _Pushing Daisies_ , and Miss Parker and Broots from _The Pretender_

"Hi-yah!" she shrieked as she launched herself at the man. He collapsed on the floor in a heap, unmoving. Miss Piggy was gratified but unsurprised at her successful karate chop. Few men could stand up to her when she was angry. "You can take your special destiny and shove it up--"

"Piggy!" Kermit yelled. He came running down the stairs.

"Kermit, my love!"

Kermit arrived at the bottom of the stairs. "Piggy, aaallp!" he blurted as she hugged him hard enough to push him backwards several feet. "I, uh, I came here to save you!" He glanced down at the male body recumbent on the floor.

Miss Piggy flipped her hair. " _Moi_ has taken care of it herself," she announced. "Oh, and here's this kid," she said as an afterthought. An adorable blonde girl stared at both of them, sucking her thumb.

"Piggy, whose child is this?"

"Not _moi_ 's and his, no matter what he says!" she stated, waving one gloved arm dramatically in the direction of the blond man lying still on the carpet. "Come on, kiddo," she said as they walked up the stairs to freedom.

\- - - - -

"Psst! Come here!" whispered Olive to the formerly dead woman known as Chuck. "Do you see him?" They peered around the wall from the kitchen of the Pie Hole into its dining area.

"Him who?" asked Chuck.

"Him eating the huckleberry rhubarb. I think he likes me." She finished that pronouncement with a combination of pride and bewilderment.

"Well, why shouldn't he like you? You're very likable," stated Chuck. "But do you want him to like you?"

They peeked at the older blond man again, who was happily eating pie. He was unshaven and his clothes were a mess, but he had nice blue eyes.

_The facts were these: Leoben Conoy, age unknown, was not a man, but a robot. A very sophisticated robot with a penchant for zen koans and a weakness for well-proportioned blondes with broken hearts. Having been drawn to the piemaker's establishment by the lure of the curvaceous and sad waitress, he was now stuck with the following dilemma: to devote himself to stalking the woman until she loved him, or to devote himself to the huckleberry rhubarb pie on which he was now feasting. Both options now seemed equally sublime._

Catching sight of the diminutive waitress, the blond man waved her over and pointed to the next pie on the menu. "And lots of that white stuff on top!" he mumbled enthusiastically with his mouth full.

Olive Snook walked dejectedly back into the kitchen when she realized her attempts at flirtation could never succeed while competing with the piemaker's delicious pies.

# # #

Broots had already paused once to catch his breath. If he did it again, he might lose track of Miss Parker for good. Except for how she would then hunt him down the next time she needed him for something and she would make him regret getting behind now. So he kept running.

How does she run so fast in those heels? he wondered again. She was already stepping into the next room in the abandoned warehouse. He heard a shot ring out. By the time he made it to the room, the blond man they'd been pursuing was lying on the floor in a pool of blood, either dying or already dead.

In disbelief he looked at Miss Parker. "You killed him!" he blurted. "Why did you do that?"

"He'll just download again at the Centre," she said dismissively.

"What?!"

"He's a cylon, Broots. His consciousness will download into a new, identical body."

"What's a cylon?" The body looked human enough to Broots.

Miss Parker rolled her eyes, then retrieved a cigarette and lighter from her purse. After lighting it and taking a drag, she said, "Didn't you read the files we found in SL 16?" Then she started rattling off quotes that must've come from those files. "The Cylons were created by the Centre. They were made to look human. They evolved. They made really bad fashion choices."

That last part was said with a sneer as she looked at the Hawaiian shirt and skinny tie worn by the dead guy. Dead cylon, rather.

Suddenly Broots felt very self-conscious about his own shirt.

Miss Parker didn't continue her explanation or her fashion critique. Instead she motioned imperiously for him to follow her. "We'll send a sweeper team to clean this up," she said, then walked quickly to the staircase in the corner of the cavernous room. "Maybe you can chat about clothes together after it downloads," she yelled back at him as she headed up the stairs.

"Skinny ties are coming back in style," he muttered to himself as he hurried to catch up with her again.


	8. Promise's Home for Wayward Twos

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hera Agathon's third daughter has a special destiny as well. Post-finale, natch, with an original character (and her kids).

"Promise was the third daughter of Hera Agathon. She had a fate--"

"Yes, that's right," Promise murmured. She continued to respond automatically to the stream of words at the appropriate moments as Uncle Leoben told her about her special destiny. This was Uncle Leoben, the one with the scar on his right forearm, who was talking. They really needed to come up with some sort of numbering system, Promise thought. Of course, numbers were tricky as well, considering that their cylon sibling models had numbers, so Promise just stayed with the descriptions for now.

It hadn't been intentional, starting the home for wayward Twos. Most of the Twos did well in the blended human-cylon society, at least relatively. They took different names, learned how to hunt or fish or farm or make equipment. Frankly they did better than a few of the Sixes Promise remembered. Then that first Two came to stay with them after the Eight who'd been trying to train him to fit in finally lost patience and kicked him out. Promise still had fond memories of the first Uncle Leoben. Later, when she'd left home and had her own family, she ended up taking in another stray Two who hadn't adjusted, and before she knew it, she was trying to balance taking care of wayward Twos and raising her own kids.

Promise had organizational skills, though, and once she realized that she could both provide a service to the Twos and improve her own situation, she hadn't hesitated. She divided the Twos into work teams, and soon the home for wayward Twos was built from river rock (only fitting) atop a hill, with a view of the stream. They planted crops, went hunting and gathering and even had training on how to build rudimentary machinery with the simple tools they fashioned.

The biggest benefit was to Promise's children, however. After her last lover left, fleeing in self-preservation, she'd given up on having any male help with the children. Her little darlings needed some male role models. (Okay, so maybe the kids weren't that darling.) Granted that wayward Twos had some eccentricities, it had all worked out for the best. Nothing her children did ever made the Twos mad, so they finally stopped trying.

Thank the Lords of Earth that their previous major source of contention amongst the Twos was now long-gone: the last patterned shirt. After a massive catfight over who would get to wear it erupted, it had too many bloodstains to be usable anymore, so they'd solemnly buried in in the flower garden. Uncle Leoben (the one with the missing tooth) had read a poem about Kara and patterns, and they all sang a song about the tides. Uncle Leoben (the one with the ponytail) did a fabulous falsetto note at the end. Cylons still had great physical endurance--he held the note for an impressive length of time. The whole ceremony was actually quite lovely.

It hadn't been in her plans, this kind of existence. Maybe Uncle Leoben was right about a special destiny. The wayward Twos had a loving home through their final moments, with people who understood them perfectly, and Promise had a safe environment for her children. Really, the future looked good for all of them.


	9. Ben Conoy, Gumshoe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The merest snippet of a film noir AU, in which Leoben is a private eye and Kara his new client.

_I didn't expect to see her so soon this time_ , was my first thought. Then I wondered where that idea came from--I'd never laid eyes on the dame before today, I was sure of it. 

Speaking of eyes, she was easy on them. Blonde hair styled in careful waves that had been mussed at some point, red lipstick covering full lips, hazel eyes that gave me a slantwise glance as she stood in my office door.

"Mr. Conoy?" she asked.

"That's me," I told her.

"I don't have an appointment," she said. She didn't seem particularly apologetic about it.

"Well, you came at an opportune moment," I told her. Opportune meant I hadn't had any other clients all day; not that she needed to know that. 

I stood up. "Ben Conoy. Detective, as you already know. And your name is?"

"Kara Thrace."

I put out my hand for her to shake, because I wasn't above using what John called my "cheap parlor tricks" to my advantage. It didn't work quite the way I expected, though. I saw flashes of her, and me, and what's more, it felt like it went both directions. Miss Thrace's eyes opened wide for a second, then she narrowed them in suspicion.

I didn't say anything, just showed her to the chair across from my desk.

"What can I do for you, Miss Thrace?"

"I'm looking for something."

I waited for her to say more; instead she gave me the suspicious glance from earlier. Finally she said, "I'm only here for one reason: because I need someone with certain contacts."

"Contacts?"

"I understand you're a member of Cavil's Gang." Her lips pursed a bit at the last words.

"Old information," I told her. "I left."

"Really." Her tone made her disbelief clear.

"Really," I replied.

"I only know one person who got out and made it stick," she told me.

"Athena," I said. "Now you know two."

She looked both relieved and disappointed. Starting to stand, she said, "Well, this is a heartwarming tale, but you're no good to me without a connection to them."

"Just because I don't swim in that stream anymore doesn't mean I don't know where the current runs."

Okay, so maybe my analogy wasn't so good. The lady let out an unladylike-like snort, so I added, "I didn't say I didn't have any connections. Just that I'm not part of the gang anymore."

"That's not how I heard things work," she said.

I looked at her, trying to decide what she needed to know. "There are... factions. And not everyone is as extreme as Athena."

Athena refused to see her own sister. Granted, Sharon was Cavil's moll now, but still... blood was blood, my ma always told me.

"Athena has her reasons," Miss Thrace replied, looking defensive.

"You're close to her," I stated.

"She's married to my best friend," admitted Miss Thrace.

"And she's the one who told you to see me," I deduced.

She didn't answer me, so I pressed for more. "If Athena thinks I can help, I'd like to at least know what you're looking for."

"An artifact. The Arrow of Apollo."

I sucked in a breath. One of the flashes... that was what I'd seen.


End file.
